Change of Heart
by LiveLaughLove728
Summary: "I love Quidditch, but I just don't think I want to play professionally anymore." Harry and Ginny have a conversation one night after her Quidditch practice.


**Hey guys! It's been a while since I've written a HP one-shot and I had some time earlier, so here we are. It's nothing too special, but I hope you like it. :)**

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Harry Potter was not a fan of paperwork. It was one of the few down sides to his job. At nearly twenty-four, he'd been with the Auror Office for close to six years now, and had only ever questioned his choice in career after major operations for which he was usually out of the country for multiple days and spent just as long writing up the reports afterward. Such was the case now, as he had just returned from an assignment that had led his team to Ireland in pursuit of Alessandro Hunt, one of the last escaped Death Eaters from the war.

Harry preferred to finish his work at the office before coming home after a large case like this, but with Ron's recent resignation, he was currently without a partner and therefore had twice the usual amount of work. Having been away for the past sixteen days, he'd been anxious to get home to see his wife and had brought the remaining paperwork with him to finish over the weekend.

Because he had been out of the country and lines of communication had been unavailable, Harry, having expected Ginny to be home when he returned, had been disappointed to see the note she'd left for him explaining that Gwenog had called an unexpected post-season practice for that night, and she would be home late.

This was how he came to be sat in his home office at quarter to nine in the evening, signing his name at the bottom of the field report he had just finished writing, when the unmistakable sounds of the Floo flared up in the living room. Grinning to himself at the impeccable timing, Harry set down his quill and stood up to meet his wife.

When he reached the living room, Ginny was just removing her muddy trainers before walking across the carpeted floor. She smiled when she saw Harry. "You're back!" she said, crossing the floor to him, her shoes forgotten on the floor by the fireplace with the rest of her Quidditch gear. Harry opened his arms to her and kissed her passionately, looking forward to the proper welcome that was to come later, as it always did when one of them was away for an extended period of time. "When did you get home?" Ginny asked when she pulled away.

"A few hours ago," Harry grinned, "Though I was a bit disappointed to find a piece of parchment in place of my wife."

Ginny sighed, "I'm sorry. But in my defense, you _were_ supposed to be home three days ago. It figures you'd get back the one time in the last few days I've been gone for more than a couple of hours." She gave him a playful look.

Harry smiled. "Sorry. It took longer than we thought to locate Hunt."

"Don't worry, I'm used to it," she replied easily.

"You are, are you?" Harry said with a smile.

"Yes." Ginny kissed him again. Harry held her tighter to him and deepened it. After a minute, they broke apart again and with one last quick touch of the lips, Ginny stepped away and into the kitchen with Harry trailing after her.

"How was practice?" he asked, seating himself at the kitchen table while Ginny rummaged through the refrigerator.

"It was alright," she answered, pulling out the covered plate of shepherd's pie he'd left for her earlier. "Did you make this?"

He nodded. "Your note said it was a post-season practice. Should I take that to mean you lost to Puddlemere last week?" Harry had been unhappy to have to miss Ginny's match due to the case. He'd tried to find the results of the match in the papers in Ireland, but the English teams weren't extensively covered there unless something more entertaining than a typical match occurred.

"Yeah," Ginny answered as she finished warming her food with her wand and sat down across from him, "We were almost tied for the majority of the game, but Marla got hit badly with a Bludger halfway through and her sub isn't all that fantastic of a Seeker. Puddlemere caught the Snitch and it was all over. We lost 620-480." Ginny took a bite of her dinner and shrugged. "Oliver and I met for dinner afterward."

"How is he?"

"Good. He's getting married finally. He said he's going to owl us an invitation."

"Good for him," Harry answered, eyeing Ginny strangely. He couldn't help but notice that she seemed somewhat less enthusiastic than usual when talking about Quidditch, but she spoke up before he could comment on it.

"How was your case?"

"I suppose it wasn't awful," Harry answered, "Though it rained nonstop every day for the last week. This is the first time I've been truly dry in six days."

"Well it's a good thing it's summer. The last time that happened, it was freezing and you came home with pneumonia," said Ginny, "Ron too."

"I remember," Harry said with a grin, "Hermione was not happy."

Ginny laughed. "There's an understatement."

Harry stood to get a glass from the cupboard and fill it with water. He knew he could have summoned it without leaving his seat, but even after all his years in the Wizarding World, he couldn't break the habit of doing some things the Muggle way. He placed the glass on the table in front of Ginny. She thanked him and took a sip. "So," Harry began, sitting down again, "Was Gwenog hard on the team tonight?"

Ginny swallowed another bite of food and shrugged. "A little. You know how she gets when we don't win. I think she was really hoping to make it to the finals like last year."

"Were you?" Harry asked.

Ginny paused and appeared to consider the question. "I don't know," she said at last. Harry narrowed his eyes questioningly. She met his eyes and sighed. "I don't know," she repeated.

"That's not like you," Harry pointed out, "You were devastated when the Harpies missed out on the World Cup last year."

Ginny nodded, "I know."

"Gin?" Harry said.

She sighed and looked at him. "You know how people ask you all the time why you never played Quidditch professionally when you're so good at it?"

"Yeah," Harry replied, taken off guard at the question.

"You always tell them that you love Quidditch, but if it was your job, it wouldn't be fun anymore."

"Is that how you feel?" Harry asked, having finally figured out where she was going with this.

"I don't know," Ginny said, "Maybe. It's just, in the beginning, when I first joined the Harpies, I couldn't imagine ever wanting to do anything else. It was the best thing that could have happened to me," she paused and then gave a small smile and added, "Except marrying you, obviously."

"Obviously," Harry replied, waiting for her to continue.

Ginny, noticing this, sighed and went on, "And until this season, I was really happy playing professionally and travelling all over."

"What changed?" Harry asked when she didn't say anything else.

"I'm not sure. I've been thinking about it a lot though and I don't think I want to renew my contract with the Harpies next season. I mean, I love Quidditch, but, well, it's like you said. It's different when it's a full-time job."

Harry studied her for a second before speaking. He was astounded, really. "You can do whatever you want to do, Ginny. Why didn't you say anything?" he asked.

"Honestly, I don't think I really realized how I felt until recently," answered Ginny, "Like when our season ended with the Puddlemere loss and it didn't matter all that much to me. And when I got the owl about practice tonight and really didn't want to go." She shook her head. "I've been with the Harpies for five years and I've never felt like that before. I love Quidditch, but I just don't think I want to play professionally anymore."

"What do you want to do?" Harry asked.

"Actually, I think I'd like to write about it. For the Daily Prophet, or Quidditch Quarterly, or something."

"Like a reporter?"

"Exactly. A Quidditch correspondent." She shrugged, "I think I'd be good at it."

"Of course you would," said Harry, "You were one of the best writers in your year at Hogwarts, and you have first hand experience as a player." He smiled at his wife, "If that's what you want to do, Gin, I think it's a great idea."

"I think it is. And I'd be home a lot more, with more normal hours. More like yours are when you're not away on a big case." She met his eyes, "I'd see you more."

"I like it," Harry said approvingly.

"And if I'm not playing anymore, we could start a family sometime," she added, not looking away, "Maybe pretty soon."

Harry blinked and then smiled widely. "We could. If you want to. You know I do."

Ginny stood and smiled in return as she deposited her dishes in the sink. "I'd like nothing more than to bear your children one day, Mr. Potter." Harry's only response was to get up and close the space between them to kiss her, pressed up against the countertop.

After a few minutes of shameless snogging, the couple broke apart. Ginny, still wrapped in Harry's arms, leaned into his shoulder. "I missed you," she murmured.

"I missed you too, Gin," Harry replied, "And I want you to be happy."

"I am."

He hissed the top of her hair. "Good."

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 **Thank you for reading!**


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